Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to inspection of a part, e.g. composite or other internally reinforced components for an aircraft.
Description of Related Art
In many industries, components are inspected for defects in a field environment. Inspection methods and techniques may be employed to determine the integrity of a part or a component. Knowing the geometric details of a part along with hidden details such as multiple co-bonded materials, adhesive bondlines, and sandwiched details is critical to a successful inspection. Inspection from the outside surface of a part may be the most suitable option and the inspector may not have intimate knowledge of the geometric features or substructures associated with that part, which makes inspection difficult to perform reliably and may not provide enough fidelity to detect small defects.
Non-destructive testing methods such as ultrasonic testing, bond testing, or eddy current testing involve positioning a probe over a general area on the outer surface of the component. As the probe is placed over the general area, the inspector must identify certain hidden features without any detailed references. There is a need for a non-destructive testing method involving an overlay that can be used to identify internal core structure details.